Chapter Eight

1–4. The Beloved expresses a passionate desire for her relationship with the Beloved to take on a character of greater simplicity and intimacy. 5–7. The ardent confession of the Shulammite of the incomparable power of true love. 8–10. About the sister of the Shulammite. 11–12. Her memory of her primitive state. 13–14. In conclusion she again calls her friend, hearing also from him a corresponding call—to go to the bosom of nature for complete enjoyment of the bliss of love.

Song of Songs 8:1. Oh, that you were like a brother to me, who nursed at my mother’s breasts! If I found you outside, I would kiss you, and no one would despise me. Song of Songs 8:2. I would lead you and bring you to my mother’s house, and you would teach me. I would give you spiced wine to drink, the juice of my pomegranate. Song of Songs 8:3. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand embraces me. Song of Songs 8:4. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem—do not stir up or awaken love until it is ready. Normal sexual love, though distinct in nature and character from love by blood and kinship, nevertheless in regard to intimacy, simplicity, and immediacy, naturally takes the latter as its model; and therefore as the Bridegroom of the Song of Songs not once called the Bride his sister (Song 4:12), so the Bride, not satisfied with her position—first of the queens (Song 6:8-9), yearns for the most intimate, unhindered communion with her Bridegroom—similar to the caresses of brother and sister. The Bridegroom-brother should take the lead—he should teach the Bride-sister (v. 2), and she should give him selfless love and devotion. V. 3 repeats what was said in Song 2:6. According to Prof. Olesnitsky’s explanation, in the verses in question “the earth, having completed its summer labor and delivered its fruits, expresses a desire that the sun be its brother, that is, dwell inseparably with it so that its vineyards and pomegranates continually bloom, so that old fruits are immediately replaced by new ones. The Song again ends with an adjuration addressed to the daughters of Jerusalem not to disturb the love and harmony reigning in nature” (cited. work p. 377).

Song of Songs 8:5. Who is this coming up from the desert, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I awakened you; there your mother conceived you, there she who was in labor gave you birth. The question “who is this?” as in the analogous places Song 3:6 and Song 6:10, probably belonging to the Jerusalem women, refers, undoubtedly, to a new and now the last appearance of the Bride. In the Heb. Bible: ala min-gamidbar, Vulg. ascendit de deserto, Russian Synodal: “coming up from the desert” (Archim. Makarios; coming up) from the wilderness, which is literally in accord with Song 3:6 and probably artificially transferred from there. The LXX read differently and rendered: λελευκανθισμενη, Slavonic “whitened,” which corresponds much better to the general course of the sacred poet’s thought: the Bride in his book appears as perfecting, and if at the beginning of the book she appeared dark from the sun’s tan (Song 1:4-5), then now, at the end of the book, she—in contrast—appears whitened, having attained a dazzling whiteness. According to Prof. Olesnitsky’s opinion, “the final stage of the Song of Songs (Song 8:5-14) approaches the pictures of the first stage and depicts the first half of the winter season, the cooling and slumber or, so to speak, the contraction of life in nature... Palestine did not vainly fear the departure of the sun in the preceding song. The sun has departed—and behold in one morning Palestine appears all white from snow. This thought is directly expressed in the first words of the song according to the LXX reading: who is this coming forth shining with such white color (according to the LXX) and by the brightness of this snowy color resembling her beloved sun?” (p. 377); “the main winter ornament of Palestine consists of oranges ripening in December... the sacred poet understands them, and only them, by the general name apples. Orange trees laden with ripening fruits—the only remaining pledge of close relations between the earth and the sun; in these belated fruits the winter sun barely awakens to life Palestine, sleeping in the bosom of mother—earth” (p. 378).

Song of Songs 8:6. Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm; for love is strong as death, jealousy is harsh as Sheol; its flashes are flashes of fire, a most vehement flame. Song of Songs 8:7. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. If one offered all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned. In vv. 6–7, by the unanimous recognition of all ancient and modern interpreters, the fundamental thought or idea of the entire Song of Songs is expressed—about the incomparably high dignity and irresistible power of true love as a principle in its essence and divine source. The depiction of love given here by the sacred poet—strong as death and jealousy insatiable as Sheol itself, love as divine unquenchable and incorruptible flame—is truly incomparable, truly classical. But all the deep meaning of this picture becomes clear only in connection with the typological interpretation of the Song of Songs. Let us take advantage here of Prof. Olesnitsky’s excellent explanation. “As writers of prophetic books introduce features of the blessed Messianic kingdom into the depiction of the extreme political fall of the Jewish people for the purpose of consoling and encouraging the people, so the writer of the Song of Songs, having reached in his description the lowest stage of the life of the promised land, as if asleep from the action of winter cold, unexpectedly introduces into his description a feature not relating to the actual Palestine he depicts—the highest direct relationship of God to the land of his people. The depiction of love in vv. 6–7, which is not interrupted even by death and Hades, is not quenched by any (winter) waters and is not obtained by any treasures, is a depiction of that divine love which serves as the foundation of all Old Testament teaching about the Messiah. In keeping with the fact that in our book the sun and its beneficial heat are generally discussed, and the love of God is called here a flame (according to the original reading; the flame of Jehovah Yah 7. Thus it is completely justified that ancient interpreters saw in the Song of Songs one of the highest and brightest prophecies about the Messiah. From the highest point at which we stand in Song 8:6-7, the general thought of the entire Song of Songs must be defined as follows: amid all the vicissitudes of the fate of Palestine, amid the alternating pictures of its nature, for the Jewish people there is only one firm and unchanging foundation of life—the promised highest and most perfect love of Jehovah, with the revelation of which there will be no more need for the sun on the earth of the chosen, God’s people, because Jehovah Himself will be for her the sun that does not set” (p. 378–379). On the parallelism of vv. 6–7 with Rom 8:35-39 we spoke.

Song of Songs 8:8. We have a sister, and she is little; she has no breasts. What shall we do for our sister on the day when she is sought in marriage? Song of Songs 8:9. If she is a wall, we will build on her a battlement of silver; if she is a door, we will enclose her with boards of cedar. Song of Songs 8:10. I am a wall, and my breasts like towers; then I was in his eyes like one who brings peace. Song of Songs 8:11. Solomon had a vineyard at Baal-hamon; he entrusted the vineyard to keepers; each one was to bring for its fruit a thousand pieces of silver. Song of Songs 8:12. My own vineyard is at my disposal; the thousand shekels are for you, O Solomon, and two hundred for those who tend its fruit. Song of Songs 8:13. O you who dwell in the gardens, the companions listen for your voice; let me hear it. Song of Songs 8:14. Make haste, my beloved, and be like a gazelle or a young stag on the mountains of spices! The general sense of this concluding section consists in the indication of complete contentment and satisfaction which the Bride attained in the finally realized, long-desired, complete communion with her Beloved. The particulars, however, as in many places of our sacred book, are difficult to explain in a satisfactory, undisputed manner. Thus it is difficult to determine who exactly is the younger sister about whom, by a supposition that has many supporters (see, e.g., the Russian translation by Archimandrite Makarios), the brothers of the Bride speak in vv. 8–9. The Midrash and many interpreters (including Prof. Olesnitsky) see in this younger sister also the Bride—the heroine of the Song of Songs—and, precisely in its application to her, explain the imperfections and needs of this sister mentioned here. However, the distinction of her from the Bride is argued by the very designation of her as younger, as well as the fact that in v. 10 the Bride, by her qualities, is directly opposed, as “having brought peace” (in Archim. Makarios: “having found peace”), to the imperfect younger sister. Therefore it is more natural to see in the latter a community foreign to Israel and his God-given inheritance—the Gentiles, although believing, but far from having the favorable conditions for the development and practical realization of this faith (one can here, for comparison, cite the depiction of the condition of paganism in the apostle Paul, e.g., Eph 2:12-13). The vineyard, vv. 11–12, on the contrary, is, as in Isa 5, an image of the Old Testament biblical Israel with its theocratic order. “Baal-hamon,” as a proper name, does not appear in the Old Testament canonical books. The comparison of this name with the city of Balamon mentioned in the book of Judith (Jdt 8:3) has only the probability that the latter was located (Onomast. 191, 228) near Dothan or Dothaim (Onomast. 396), that is, near Shunem—the home of the Shulammite. But it is even more probable that “Baal-hamon” is a common noun meaning literally “lord of multitude (of peoples),” which is quite fitting for Solomon and even more so for the Messiah prefigured by him. With the last mutual greetings of love, vv. 13–15, the Beloved one disappear into ethereal heights, with which likewise the last tones of the most excellent of songs—the Song of Songs—fall silent, this—truly, “the elusive riddle proposed to the human spirit by the Absolute Spirit” (Prof. A. A. Olesnitsky, The Book Song of Songs... P. 338). * * * Indeed, instead of the reading accepted in the Heb. text in v. 6 flame (strong), very many codices in Kennicott and Rossi read the flame of Jehovah.